Three sets of statistical trends, records, marks and highlights by the Jets in their 37-22 MetLife loss to the Cowboys this past weekend:
Mason Building His Foundation
Rookie TE Mason Taylor has been displaying his throwback attitude toward playing Jets TE, which bodes well for all that lies ahead for the young man from LSU and the Sunshine State. "At the end of the day, whether I'm blocking 40 snaps a game or having 12 receptions, whatever I have to do to make this team win and provide for this team is what I'm looking for," he has said.
Taylor's prominence in the passing game has been growing, as his game-by-game catch numbers of 1, 1, 4, 5 and 9 indicate. In fact, his 9 receptions (for a still-modest career-high 67 yards) against Dallas has already moved him onto a couple of franchise top-10 lists. He's one of only 7 different Jets tight ends to snare 9-plus catches in a game and only the second Jets rookie, after Jace Amaro had 10 catches vs. Denver in 2014, to do it.
Taylor was very close with his closing kick vs. Dallas to joining another list. Among TEs, only Mickey Shuler (twice), Johnny Mitchell and Amaro assembled 10-catch games in green and white. And technically, Mason did have a 10th catch, except it doesn't count as a scrimmage catch. It was his two-point grab, also from Justin Fields, that gave him a singular franchise distinction: He's now the only Jets TE with a game of 9-plus catches and at least one deuce.
See the best photos of the Jets boarding the plane to London before their Week 6 game against the Broncos.
Charting in the Key of G
It's a weekly joy to keep an eye on Garrett Wilson's growing streaks, such as that with his 6 catches vs. the Pokes he has extended his prodigious stretches to 56 games with at least 1 catch, 50 games with at least 2 catches and 22 games with at least 3.
But G5 made a little more significant leap with his most recent 6-71-1 line. Wilson strode past Super Bowl era star George Sauer's 309 career receptions and now has 312 himself, good for 10th place on the Jets' all-time receptions list, topped of course by Don Maynard's 627 followed by Wayne Chrebet's 580.
And Wilson can do more climbing this season, possibly past Jerome Barkum, Jerricho Cotchery and Curtis Martin before hitting a temporary ceiling above which Wesley Walker and Shuler, each with 438 catches, reside in a 5th-place tie.
The Short and the Long of It
One of the shortcomings for the Jets offense in the game was their inability to convert a pair of second-half fourth-and-1s that could have helped them make the game vs. Big D a bit closer. The two stops covered up an actually strong short-yardage game, though, as the O converted 4 third-and-1s, on one Breece Hall and two Fields runs and Fields' late 5-yard toss to Taylor.
The 4 third-and-1s and the 4-for-4 in those situations were the first times the Jets achieved those game distinctions since their 26-20 overtime win at Cleveland in 2010. And the short-yardage success don't include Fields' 2nd-and-goal 1-yard TD sling to FB Andrew Beck midway through the final frame or his two two-point completions.
None of this makes Sunday easier to take, but continued work on the details, such as their strong running game (still 3rd in the NFL in rush yards per game and per carry), first-down production and 3-and-out defensive rate. "I do know this: There are a lot of good things that I'm proud of that happened in that game," HC Aaron Glenn said as he glanced one last look at Dallas, then focused full-time on London for the week ahead and the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
